Baker among top Think Tanks

HW Staff

Jan 26|10:03

Published on 26 January 2011

The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania has ranked Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy among the top 30 think tanks in the United States and among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks in the world.

The 2010 "Global Go-To Think Tanks" rankings, released this month, place the Baker Institute 27th among all U.S. think tanks and 16th globally among all university-based think tanks. Rankings criteria included an institute's ability to retain top scholars, the quality of research, access to policymakers and ability to influence policy decisions.

"The Baker Institute's ranking is a reflection of the relevance and timeliness of the public policy studies and recommendations produced by the institute's fellows and scholars," said Ambassador Edward Djerejian, the founding director of the Baker Institute. "It also reflects, as well, the quality of the programs and events that the institute's staff organize to extend our outreach to the Rice students and faculty, to the Houston community and to national and international audiences through our state-of-the-art communications facilities."

According to the rankings report, the majority of the world's 6,480 think tanks are in the United States and Europe. Texas alone has 47 think tanks. Just under 5,500 think tanks participated in the 2010 survey.

Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy is an integral part of Rice University. It has a strong track record of achievement based on the work of Rice faculty and the institute's endowed fellows and scholars. They do important research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute also collaborates with experts from academia, government, the media, business, and nongovernmental and private organizations. The results of the research programs and studies are provided to those involved in the formulation and execution of public policy.